I`m a 19 year old female who`s been experiencing a series of symptoms for the past 7 months that doctors have been unable to diagnose.

Firstly, my hair has been falling out and as you can imagine, this has been very emotionally stressful. Since about 7 months ago, I`ve lost more then 75% of hair from all over my head. The hair loss is not patchy, but has been thinning all over. I used to have long, extremely thick and beautiful hair, and now its almost gone. The hair loss is not localized to my head as I've even noticed that the hair on my legs and in my pubic area have barely been growing back after shaving. I did see a dermatologist and he said that I must have an underlying autoiumme disease that's causing the hair loss. He suspects lupus or a related disease, but as of yet, blood tests have shown no irregularities.

Since around the same time my hair has been falling out, Ive noticed that the lymph nodes in my neck have been swollen. Sometimes they are red and sensitive (especially after drinking alcohol or smoking) but usually they're painless. I've also been experiencing a lot of joint/muscle pain and stiffness. Some days it gets really bad and I can barely move, even typing/writing is difficult because the muscles in my hands are so stiff. I feel like every muscle and joint in my body is inflamed. I'm only 19 and I'm having as hard of a time moving around as my 55 year old mother with MS.

Lastly, (and I'm not sure if this is related at all) my skin has been really dry and especially itchy. I'm not sure if I've noticed any rashes, but I have noticed some redness (light red spots) randomly on my skin.

My family doctor did a thorough blood analysis and everything came back normal. There is no sign of vitamin deficiency, my thyriod was normal, no diabetes, my blood cell count was normal, kidney/liver function was normal, and I'm clean for STD's/STI's. I really don't know where to go from here and im terrified that if I don't find out whats wrong, I'm going to go bald.

Does anyone know what these symptoms indicate? Any advice as to what I should get tested for/where I should go from here would be great.

I'd suggest you should see a rheumatologist to rule out Lupus or Rheumatoid Arthritis. I don't know if you've had blood tests specific to those disorders; rheumatoid factor (positive in about 75% of people with RA), ESR or SED rate, CRP or C-reactive protein (both ESR and CRP look for inflammation), and Antinuclear antibodies or ANA (positive in 95% of people with Lupus).

Alopecia Areata is an autoimmune disorder that causes hair loss but no other systemic symptoms.

From the NIH website: "Alopecia Areata often occurs in people whose family members have other autoimmune diseases**, such as diabetes, rheumatoid arthritis, thyroid disease, systemic lupus erythematosus, pernicious anemia, or Addisonís disease. People who have alopecia areata do not usually have other autoimmune diseases, but they do have a higher occurrence of thyroid disease, atopic eczema, nasal allergies, and asthma." http://www.niams.nih.gov/Health_Info/Alopecia_Areata/default.asp

**it doesn't say so here, but AA has also been linked to a family history of MS.

I`m a 19 year old female who`s been experiencing a series of symptoms for the past 7 months that doctors have been unable to diagnose.

Firstly, my hair has been falling out and as you can imagine, this has been very emotionally stressful. Since about 7 months ago, I`ve lost more then 75% of hair from all over my head. The hair loss is not patchy, but has been thinning all over. I used to have long, extremely thick and beautiful hair, and now its almost gone. The hair loss is not localized to my head as I've even noticed that the hair on my legs and in my pubic area have barely been growing back after shaving. I did see a dermatologist and he said that I must have an underlying autoiumme disease that's causing the hair loss. He suspects lupus or a related disease, but as of yet, blood tests have shown no irregularities.

Since around the same time my hair has been falling out, Ive noticed that the lymph nodes in my neck have been swollen. Sometimes they are red and sensitive (especially after drinking alcohol or smoking) but usually they're painless. I've also been experiencing a lot of joint/muscle pain and stiffness. Some days it gets really bad and I can barely move, even typing/writing is difficult because the muscles in my hands are so stiff. I feel like every muscle and joint in my body is inflamed. I'm only 19 and I'm having as hard of a time moving around as my 55 year old mother with MS.

Lastly, (and I'm not sure if this is related at all) my skin has been really dry and especially itchy. I'm not sure if I've noticed any rashes, but I have noticed some redness (light red spots) randomly on my skin.

My family doctor did a thorough blood analysis and everything came back normal. There is no sign of vitamin deficiency, my thyriod was normal, no diabetes, my blood cell count was normal, kidney/liver function was normal, and I'm clean for STD's/STI's. I really don't know where to go from here and im terrified that if I don't find out whats wrong, I'm going to go bald.

Does anyone know what these symptoms indicate? Any advice as to what I should get tested for/where I should go from here would be great.

Thank you in advance for the help!

Ask your doctor about your pituitary and adreanal glands. Look up sypmtoms that are related to disorders in these two things. They along with your lymphnodes and thyroid are all a part of the endocrine system so maybe because your lymphnodes are inflamed and having problems you should look into seeing an Endocrinologist.
Defenatly rule out lupus. It could be a possiblility but more than likely it won't be that. Rhumatoid is a condition in the joints though it will cause alot of physical conditions it shouldn't cause you muscle probelms that I know of. My mom has suffered from Rhumatoid for years and she has sore muscles but it's more than likely due to her larger chest not the condition.

I`m a 19 year old female who`s been experiencing a series of symptoms for the past 7 months that doctors have been unable to diagnose.

Firstly, my hair has been falling out and as you can imagine, this has been very emotionally stressful. Since about 7 months ago, I`ve lost more then 75% of hair from all over my head. The hair loss is not patchy, but has been thinning all over. I used to have long, extremely thick and beautiful hair, and now its almost gone. The hair loss is not localized to my head as I've even noticed that the hair on my legs and in my pubic area have barely been growing back after shaving. I did see a dermatologist and he said that I must have an underlying autoiumme disease that's causing the hair loss. He suspects lupus or a related disease, but as of yet, blood tests have shown no irregularities.

Since around the same time my hair has been falling out, Ive noticed that the lymph nodes in my neck have been swollen. Sometimes they are red and sensitive (especially after drinking alcohol or smoking) but usually they're painless. I've also been experiencing a lot of joint/muscle pain and stiffness. Some days it gets really bad and I can barely move, even typing/writing is difficult because the muscles in my hands are so stiff. I feel like every muscle and joint in my body is inflamed. I'm only 19 and I'm having as hard of a time moving around as my 55 year old mother with MS.

Lastly, (and I'm not sure if this is related at all) my skin has been really dry and especially itchy. I'm not sure if I've noticed any rashes, but I have noticed some redness (light red spots) randomly on my skin.

My family doctor did a thorough blood analysis and everything came back normal. There is no sign of vitamin deficiency, my thyriod was normal, no diabetes, my blood cell count was normal, kidney/liver function was normal, and I'm clean for STD's/STI's. I really don't know where to go from here and im terrified that if I don't find out whats wrong, I'm going to go bald.

Does anyone know what these symptoms indicate? Any advice as to what I should get tested for/where I should go from here would be great.

Thank you in advance for the help!

Hi Shalora,

I am also 20 years old and have been suffering with hair loss for a while with no real diagnosis, I know how painful it can be. Through my research I found something that sounded very familiar when I came across your story. You may have a Bioten deficiency. It causes excessive hair loss, dry itchy skin, and muscle and joint pain. I know you've been through a lot and this might seem absurd since it's just a vitamen deficiency but please do look it up, it sounds like it could be it! Hopefully that's all it is. You can always pick up bioten from your local drug store and take it everyday, you will not overdose because it's a water-soluble vitamen and only gets absorbed as your body needs. Let me know how everything goes.